The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 210
CH. 2 AL-BAQARAH PT. 1 وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ مَّنَعَ مَسْجِدَ اللهِ اَنْ And who is more unjust. 115 than he who prohibits the name يُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ وَسَعَى فِي خَرَابِهَا of Allah being glorified in أُولَيكَ مَا كَانَ لَهُمْ أَنْ يَدْخُلُوهَا إِلَّا Allah's temples and seeks to خَابِفِينَ لَهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا خِزْيٌّ وَلَهُمْ فِي such men to enter therein except a ruin them? It was not proper for in fear. For them is disgrace in this world; and theirs shall be a great punishment in the next. 121 "9:17, 18; 22:26; 72:19, 20. الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ being the followers of the same wish to worship God in a place of Book the Bible. 121. Important Words: 4(their ruin) is derived from worship, they should not be prevented from doing so; for a temple or a mosque is a place dedicated to the house | the worship of God and anyone who. خرب البيت They say. خرب became desolate and deserted. The word which is infinitive from it is the opposite of i. e. to build or to occupy and live in, and is used about a place when it becomes deserted and desolate and ruined (Aqrab). Commentary: This verse constitutes a strong indictment of those who carry their religious differences to such extremes that they do not even refrain from perpetrating outrages against the places of worship belonging to other creeds. They hinder people from worshipping God in their sacred places and even go so far as to destroy their temples. Such acts of violence are denounced here in strong terms and a lesson of tolerance and broad-mindedness is inculcated. The Quran recognizes for all the free and unrestricted right to use their temples and declares that if people 210 prevents them from worshipping Him in it, in fact, contributes to its ruin and desolation. This is what Islam teaches about respect for the places of worship, and yet it has come to be condemned as an intolerant religion. Islam is indeed the first and the only religion to inculcate broad-mindedness and teach respect for the religious susceptibilities of all peoples and the Holy Prophet was the first person who carried this great and noble principle into actual practice. He allowed the Christians of Najrān to hold their service in his own mosque, the celebrated when they came to have a religious discussion with him at Medina (Zurqānī). It will be noted that the verse prescribes two punishments for those who prohibit the name of Allah being glorified in places of worship. One is disgrace in this world and the other is heavy punishment in the next. The